SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. shale producers are making more money now than at the time when oil prices were much higher as they have become more efficient, U.S. independent shale oil producer WPX Energy said on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

“We look much more profitable than we did even in the $100 world. We are more profitable - we make more per barrel than we did in that environment,” WPX Energy’s chief operating officer, Clay Gaspar said at an industry conference in Singapore on Tuesday.

U.S. crude for November delivery stood around $52 per barrel on Tuesday.